Absolutely love her work. I can't think of anything to really describe the intricacies well enough; the gesture/gestalt, the colors, the use of soft and hard edges... it plays together so well. Not just this piece, but all of her art is very evocative. You're very lucky, Mr. Raggi, very lucky indeed!

This post shows that this is not a recent decision - I just have a budget now.

As far as edgy for edgy's sake, exactly what sort of thing would be edgy for not-edgy's sake?

I've been very plain that I count Italian horror is a big influence on me, I put Clive Barker next to the usual suspects for my recommended authors list, I was practically brought up on splatter films, the first music that I really latched onto was death metal, I used to sit dates down to watch Urotsukidoji just to see how they'd react, I go to film festivals where they show things like A Serbian Film and Bad Biologybecause they show things like A Serbian Film and Bad Biology, blah blah blah blah.

This isn't putting on an act. I am one goofy motherfucker but the majority of my entertainment choices are "eclectic" even when nobody's looking, my imagination moves along those lines, and I want that to come through in my own work.

I'm just as happy to have people read the blog from home (or even on the bus with those newfangled wireless devices!) as I am if they read the blog at work. The idea that I should tailor my posts to the workplace standards of companies I don't work for... well let's say I'm not going to go along with that.

Jim, being edgy for edgy's sake is putting up a picture of genitals with no contextual basis other than "haha, wouldnt it be cool if a medusa turned a guy to stone who had an erection". That serves no purpose except to try to put forth a "I am edgy" persona.

I like boobs. I don't put images of boobs up on my blog because I want people to actually read it. It just seems to me like you are letting your success go to your head and thinking that your decisions about what to put on your blog or in your books have no consequence to the readership. I used to come here for interesting reading. Now I am getting pictures of penises. I'm not offended by that, but I don't want someone coming into my cubicle on my lunch break and seeing a giant penis on my screen.

It is only a matter of time before this gets marked as a pornographic website and then I won't be able to access it anymore. I cannot read Zak's website from work either. Some people may only be checking blogs from work and doing other things in their spare time at home. And while I like Zak and think that he makes some good stuff, I just don't really read it anymore because I can't see it at work.

You seem to really be on a kick of "I can say whatever I want". And while that may technically be true that you can say whatever you want, there are consequences to saying whatever you want. And I think you underestimate the consequences of that.

My "success" so far is that I haven't fallen on my face. Talk to me this time next year and we'll see if there's success or just breaking even or crash and burn. Again, go back to the beginning of the blog and I'm talking up a storm with nothing much to back it up (the Creature Generator hadn't sold 20 copies at that point).

Anyway, there is are a few legit reasons for posting this.

I want the people who will pay for the thing to get to see the new art first. So I don't want to just post full pics.

At the same time, I have two things to publicize about the second printing of the box: A- Lots of new cool art and a whole new presentation. B- Some of that art is going to upset people.

And there's the fact that I'm DYING for people to see this stuff. I want to talk about to - both to get the attention that sensationalizing the whole thing will give but also because I do think it's REALLY FRICKIN COOL and I want everyone to know. (talking about the new pic of a treasure chest I have would be lame, wouldn't it?)

So posting a background detail of the art serves all purposes:

1- Preview of some of this new stuff I'm dying for people to see! 2- Warning that things are getting strange visually. Not that it's that different from what's been in my version of the Creature Generator and my flagship product has breasts on the cover for crying out loud.3- hurrr hurrrr penis! because I have that sense of humor too.

Jim, what do you think about putting the uncensored version of the Flame Princess vs. the Type 5 demon on the top of your blog?

The Vatican itself is full of stone penises on display. Nudity has a long tradition in world art, including in Christian art. In the Baroque era, many paintings and sculptures of baby Jesus Himself show His penis.

The detail from the painting under discussion here obviously takes inspiration from the ancient Greek myths. Mesusa was a stunningly beautiful woman whose hair and countenance became cursed. It's reasonable to believe that her body remained beautiful. I can imagine that this painting depicts the end result of a tryst with Medusa: The cloaked woman parts her cloak to reveal her intoxicating body. Her enraptured lover falls to his knees and performs cunnilingus. After she's sated, Medusa pulls her hood away from her face...

I'm not sure why people are saying the erect penis is gratuitous... deadly erections are the whole point of the Medusa myth. Ovid tells of one of the Gorgon sisters, a priestess of Athena who was so beautiful she seduced Poseidon, god of the sea. As anyone who has heard about the founding of Athens knows, Athena and Poseidon were dire enemies. So, Athena saw Medusa's seduction as the worst kind of betrayal, and cursed Medusa. The next dude Medusa got hard would literally get hard, and turn into stone forever.

Ergo, Medusa is the symbol of deadly female sexuality: the first femme fatale. Of course, she is also the first woman who decides for herself who to sleep with, defying the gods. The penis reminds us that there is an aspect of sexual rebellion and transgression to this story, as well as of magic and curses.